Blake Shelton and Ariana Grande Go Head-to-Head Over ‘The Voice’ Standout, Libianca [Watch]
Season 21 of The Voice is about to head into the grueling Battle Rounds of the competition, but on Monday (Oct. 4), its four coaches continued their role in assembling their teams of 12 in hopes that one of their standouts makes it to the grand finale.
Libianca, a 20-year-old singer from Minneapolis, was among the performers who brought their A-game during the fifth round of Blind Auditions. She delighted all of the coaches, but specifically Blake Shelton and Ariana Grande, with her powerful and soulful rendition of SZA's "Good Days.”
"I'm obsessed with you," Grande told Libianca afterward, making it clear that she wasn't going to give up easily in a fight to win over the singer for her team. "It's such a huge undertaking to do an SZA song …. Your low range, you sat in that space for a majority of the performance, and I was like, ‘She’s so good at that. I wonder if that's her thing. Does she have the highs?' But then you saved it for the end, and it felt more emotional that way. I'm freaking out. I really hope you pick me. You're so good. You're so beautiful, and I'm obsessed!"
Despite Grande’s praises, Libianca chose Team Blake, adding that she had been looking for "a sign from God" to help her make the tough decision. But before Shelton became Libianca's coach, the country crooner made a joke, saying, "I'm obviously the coach for you," as if he knew he didn't stand a chance against Grande.
"Living down there in that lower register for as long as you did — it would be one thing to touch on here and there, but you were wallowing in it down there. You had so much control, and there was so much volume. That’s what shocked me about your voice,” Shelton, who now has one slot left on his team, told Libianca. "Yeah. I’m the country guy, but I’ve won this show with all different kinds of artists. The coach and artist relationship is about whatever I can do that can help you be the best at whatever you want to be. That's my job. I'd be honored to be your coach."
After hearing both Shelton and Grande's comments, Libianca said, "Somebody said something that gave me a sign, because I asked God to give me a sign. So Blake, I'm going to go with you."
"I have a feeling that Blake is gonna be the one to really just help me do my thing," Libianca later shared.
Fans can tune into a new one-hour episode of The Voice featuring host Carson Daly and coaches Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Grande and Shelton on Tuesday (Oct. 5) at 8PM ET on NBC.
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